


driving (me) home

by averagefaces



Category: 2PM (Band)
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 20:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/averagefaces/pseuds/averagefaces
Summary: it's weird—he's gone twenty five years without knowing her but junho can't imagine a life without her now.





	driving (me) home

**Author's Note:**

> published april 2014. revised march 2017. reposted january 2019.  
> this is a work of fiction, no harm intended to any parties involved. please do not repost/copy or translate without permission; you're welcome to share this link. thank you for reading!

 

**zero**

"i'm pretty sure you're not supposed to hold her that way," nichkhun says, eyebrows furrowed behind his glasses.

honestly, junho doesn't care. he's tired, hungry, and cranky and he will hold his daughter the damn way he pleases. just because nichkhun is the godfather (and a father himself, okay, yes,  _ fine _ ) doesn't mean he gets a say in stuff. especially when junho is tired as fuck and he will drop dead in three minutes if sooyeon doesn't fall asleep.

"it calms her," he says instead of  _ why don't you hold her, then _ because if there's one thing she's learning from junho, is how to be cranky when she wants to sleep. junho is proud, he's not going to lie. "can you give me that blanket?"

nichkhun stands up from where he's been lounging on the small couch by the window—the lucky fucker—and holds the pink blanket out for him. it's soft and it smells like her and a bit like chansung and junho is  _ so tired _ he wants to snuggle with it and fall asleep and forget about everyone else in the room.

"bbabba," sooyeon says, and she sounds as disapproving as she gets when she's hungry and gets carrot puree instead of mashed potatoes.

he hoists her up higher on his arm, her head cradled in the crook of his elbow. she's only five months old and she's still so tiny and junho is honestly terrified of holding her sometimes but she's a tough one, has faceplanted on the carpeted floor more than once when left to her own. and she doesn't cry anymore, just takes it like a—like a, well, like a very mature baby girl. the first time it happened, though, junho cried right along with her.

"okay, sleepy time now, dad is tired, too, y'know," he says sternly, poking at one of her cheeks as he rocks her from side to side and folds the blanket around her as much as he can with nichkhun's help.

"if only i could take a picture," nichkhun sighs wistfully, patting sooyeon's tummy gently. she gurgles up at him, eyes wide and happy, swings her fists excitedly. "aw, yes, baby likes pictures, doesn't she?"

"i'm trying to put her to sleep," junho chides, looking at the both of them disapprovingly. to no one's surprise, only nichkhun looks like he cares he's being reprimanded, sooyeon gives about two shits and a half, her eyes still wide and her smile still there. "you two are the worst. that's it, time out for the both of you. nichkhun, go to that corner."

"but, junho!" nichkhun pouts.

"baba!" sooyeon wails.

junho sighs and decides if she doesn't want to take a nap then she'll be chansung's to deal with later. he tried, she beat him. it happens. he holds her up against his chest, kisses her cheek and pats her diapered bottom. "wanna take pictures with uncle khun?" he asks her, and she coos happily again, fists flying around and catching junho in the ear.

"baaaaa," she says, and drools a little when she leans in to smash her tiny face against junho's cheek.

nichkhun is jumping excitedly when junho hands her over. "who is the prettiest? sooyeon is the prettiest! she's the prettiest of them all, isn't she?"

junho watches them quietly, smiling despite himself as they get back to the couch, sooyeon's fists still swinging around and punching whatever they land on ("you better find a school with 'boxing' as an extracurricular," taecyeon had said once), her eyes wide as nichkhun lies down and puts her on his chest.

"who loves pictures? huh, sooyeonnie?" he asks, and she giggles when he makes her jump a little.

"okay, imma leave you two alone, then," junho says, heading for the door, and he does  _ not _ squeak when he steps on the little mermaid's plushy tail, he does  _ not _ . "i'll make tea," he adds, but no one cares because nichkhun is taking pictures with his phone and sooyeon is going 'oooh' and 'aaah' every time the shutter goes off.

junho rolls his eyes at the both of them and exits the room quietly, kicking another stray toy to the side (her room is a decent mess and junho isn't proud about that one, not really, but she gets upset when they try to put things in order—one time chansung had tried to put winnie the pooh and his friends back on the shelve and sooyeon had cried for ten minutes until they figured out what the hell the problem was. chansung had put the stuffed animals back on the floor  _ exactly _ like she'd left them and junho had laughed his head off later. it'd been a good day).

the hall is colorless compared to her room. it's probably the most colorful room in the whole house and junho admits to like it better than chansung's and his, but there's something about the soft oranges and yellows and pinks that make junho all warm and fuzzy inside and like he could smile all day and still not get cheek-cramps.

he's a dad now, he's allowed to be mushy, thank you very much.

he makes tea quietly, sets the kettle to boil and leans against the counter to watch it, arms crossed over his chest. he can hear sooyeon laughing back in her room, and it tugs at his chest, how happy she sounds, and how the sound has already been engraved to every corner of his mind, his heart. it's weird—he's gone twenty seven years without knowing her but junho can't imagine a life without her now.

the kettle makes a sound at the same time the front door opens and chansung calls, "you told me it wouldn't rain today, lee junho, where are you?!"

junho chuckles and drops tea bags in three mugs, fills them with water. "i also told you to take your umbrella with you, just in case," he calls back.

chansung shuffles into the kitchen, hair wet, fringe plastered to his forehead. his cheeks are pink and the top of his coat is wet with rainwater. "you just wanted to see me wet, didn't you?"

"busted," junho nods, and pushes two of the mugs across the counter. "khun's here. get him this on your way upstairs?"

chansung makes a pleased sound as he brings a mug to his lips and takes a careful sip. he disappears down the hall and junho just stands there, watching around the—their—kitchen, at the high table near the counter, the hippo sippy-cup and momo the cow sitting on the table because apparently she's invited to every lunch or else sooyeon gets pouty.

it dawns on him quietly—five months, two weeks and a day too late, maybe—that this is his life now, chansung and sooyeon and their two-store, white-fenced house. it's a no-brainer, though, because junho is happy, happiest than he's ever been. he makes songs for a living now, chansung acts occasionally, and they're  _ happy _ .

even when sooyeon cries within an inch of her tiny, precious life.

he runs up the stairs because that's  _ his daughter crying _ and holy shit he doesn't want her to ever cry, never, not if he can help it, and finds nichkhun trying to shush her gently while chansung walks out of their room missing his pants and with only a sock on. if junho didn't relate, he'd laugh.

"what happened?" he asks, and holds his arms up for her, cradles her tiny body in his arms.

nichkhun pouts, "chansung said he'd be right back but he took too long."

sooyeon hiccups loudly and her arms stretch over junho's neck—towards chansung, and no, junho doesn't feel betrayed  _ at all _ , but he could definitely drop down and  _ cry _ at how much he loves her and how much he loves her for loving chansung. chansung takes her and she goes quiet immediately, her fists bunching in his shirt as she 'ba ba ba's at him. she's probably telling him how there was no mashed potatoes for lunch.

"i'm going to take a picture," nichkhun says, and he sounds like he's smiling. there's no way junho knows for sure but right now he can't take his eyes off chansung and  _ their daughter _ (holy damn, that always takes a bit of junho's breath away) being cute and mushy and smiling at each other.

junho doesn't even get upset when nichkhun gets on his face and takes a picture of him, stupid smile and all.

 

nichkhun leaves around six pm, and she  _ sniffs _ , eyes big and shiny, when he says goodbye. junho tries really hard not to laugh at nichkhun's face, how soft and happy he gets, and only claps him on the shoulder, thanks him for dropping by even though his flight is in three hours and he could've spent the day doing something else.

"it's okay," nichkhun says at the door, shrugging his coat on. "wooyoung's taken harry to say goodbye to the grandparents, so. besides," he adds, smiling, "i had fun. she's a great model."

junho narrows his eyes. "don't. don't even consider it. don't even  _ mention  _ it to chansung."

"not mention what to chansung?" chansung's head pokes from behind the foyer, sooyeon on his arms.

"nothing," junho says, at the same time nichkhun says, "i'll tell you later."

chansung grins and junho purses his lips. nichkhun chuckles. "i'll be going now, then. i want daily pictures of her."

"of course you do," junho sighs, and waves as nichkhun walks down the porch and gets on his cab.

"has she napped?" chansung asks from the living room just as junho closes the door.

"nope," he says, making his way to the couch, "she was too excited about khun, i guess."

chansung hums and starts walking all over the first floor with sooyeon in his arms, takes her to the kitchen as he tells her about his day, about how "uncle taecyeon fell down some stairs because he wanted to do his own stunts," and, "so i'm leaving the set, right, are you listening to this, sooyeonnie, and then it starts to rain! can you believe it? preposterous," and junho smiles, head tipped back against the back of the couch.

when he wakes up two hours later, the only light in the living room comes from the side-lamp at the corner, yellow and feeble. junho blinks at the ceiling first, then at chansung's head poking from behind the couch. "sooyeon?" he asks, voice raspy with sleep, and chansung nods his head to signal the stairs.

junho runs a hand down his face and sits up slowly, his body still half asleep and numb, but then there's chansung kneeling in front of him, hands going to his thighs, squeezing as he draws in closer. "hi," he says, and dips his head enough to drop a kiss to the corner of junho's mouth.

smiling, junho brings a hand up and cups chansung's cheek. "if you're gonna seduce me, can we please move this to our bed? this couch is lumpy."

chansung laughs ("ssshhh," junho murmurs) and hauls junho to his feet, and they make their way up the stairs quietly, smiling at each other as they go. "how was it? was she a troublemaker today?" chansung asks.

"nah, she was great. only cried twice," junho says, making sure not to step on any of the creaky boards of the hall. he lets chansung walk down first, makes a stop in sooyeon's room and peeks inside, makes sure she's tucked in the right way ("hwang chansung, you are not wrapping our daughter like a burrito, put that blanket down,") and momo the monkey (they're all  _ momo _ s, that's how extensive her vocabulary is so far) is right next to her pillow.

he leaves the door ajar and skips—literally—to his room, drops on the bed as soon as it's within sight, not bothering to pull the covers back. he peeks an eye open. "chansung?"

"bathroom," comes the reply, and junho sighs, rolling onto his back and starfishing on the bed.

a couple of minutes later chansung's standing at his side of the bed, taking his watch off carefully. "you're on my spot," he says, and junho snorts. "move, get under the covers. come on."

huffing, junho kicks at the covers until they're halfway off the bed. he doesn't move, and chansung chuckles, smacking at his arm until junho wiggles a little and makes room for him. the pillows smell like  _ them _ , chansung's shampoo and junho's aftershave, and it makes him smile a little, eyes closed and content.

"i thought you were gonna seduce me?" he asks after a pause.

chansung chuckles and runs a finger down junho's arm, from the top of his shoulder to the inside of his wrist. "you look tired, though," he says quietly.

junho opens his eyes and finds chansung a lot closer than he'd thought he'd be. they're sharing the same pillow, their faces barely inches apart. and yeah, junho  _ is _ tired, but he's never tired for chansung, for  _ them _ , and honestly speaking, it's been  _ a while _ .

so this is probably a bad decision in the long run because he's still got a song to finish and chansung's not going to be home tomorrow either and junho should  _ rest _ so sooyeon doesn't wear him out, but his nerves are tingling and chansung's finger is rubbing small circles on his skin and junho  _ wants _ , wants chansung right now and later and tomorrow and forever.

he moves slowly, holding chansung's gaze as he does so, as he carefully rolls on top of him. "well i'm awake now," junho whispers, ducks his head and kisses the hinge of chansung's jaw. "are you?"

chansung's hands are on his hips, warm and heavy and  _ grounding _ . "i am, yeah," he sounds breathless, and it's funny, it is, because this is not the first time, definitely not the last one, and yet it's always charged, intense, makes junho warm all over incredibly fast.

he pulls away, looks down at chansung with a teasing smile. "then  _ get to it _ ."

chansung narrows his eyes, smirks up at him, and flips them over.

**five**

there's a  _ thump _ , a screech, a giggle, another  _ thump _ , and then pain.

junho sags back onto the mattress with a huff, wincing when sooyeon literally tries to jump on his back again and again and again.

"sooyeon," chansung mumbles from under one of the pillows, "stop jumping on your dad."

"but it's christmas morniiiiiiiiiing," she crows, and  _ ow _ shot to the kidney.

" _ ow _ ," junho groans.

"sorry, daddy," sooyeon says, sounding the least apologetic, and throws herself on top of chansung instead, which is totally cool with junho, yes.

junho lifts his head from his pillow and blinks at her. "why aren't you wearing socks?" he asks.

she looks chastised for about two seconds before she's rolling to the side and crawling under chansung's arm, giggling. "i forgot," she giggles.

"you  _ forgot _ ?" junho echoes. chansung makes a sleepy sound and cuddles sooyeon closer. "excuse me, young lady, what is rule numero uno when it comes to getting out of bed?"

she blinks from behind chansung's arm. "always put on socks before leaving the bed," she murmurs.

"then why aren't you wearing any?" junho raises an eyebrow.

"because i forgot!" she yelps.

"she forgot, it's only like twenty steps from her room, you can calm down now," chansung mumbles sleepily, and pats around for the covers until her feet are tucked under them. she  _ giggles _ . "sooyeon, tell your dad you'll remember to wear socks next time," he mumbles.

sooyeon grins sheepishly. "i promise to put on socks next time, daddy."

junho huffs and drops his head back on his pillow. "i give up," he says, because he does. these two are a unit against him, junho is all alone when he tries to make the right parenting choices and he's done. "wake me up in january."

"but daddyyyyyy," she wails, reaching under chansung's arm to tug at his, "it's  _ christmas _ ."

"don't care," he mumbles, pouting like the five year old next to him wiggling her way out of chansung's grip to drop herself on junho's back. she bites at his shoulder and junho has got to stop letting chansung teach her these things.

"daddy,  _ please _ ?"

"please what?" junho peeks an eye open and finds chansung watching them, his eyes still sleepy, hair tousled and sticking up in odd directions.

"please get up and come with me downstairs so i can open my presents? please? please? i promise i'll never forget to put on socks ever again!" she's wiggling, keeps patting junho in the back like she's trying to comfort him. "daaaaaaaddyyyyyyyy."

"come on,  _ daddy _ ," chansung chimes in, all bright eyes and teasing smile.

junho makes a face at him. "don't, just don't."

"don't what," sooyeon asks, blinking at each of them.

chansung laughs and sits up, scoops her up in his arms as he leaves the bed, and she wails happily and loudly. "come on, princess, let's make some chocolate for junho, okay?"

she's on his shoulders when junho cranes around to look at them. she's blinking again, that confused face she makes whenever something has escaped her notice or—and this is just insane, okay—when she meets strangers.

"who is junho?" she asks,  _ honestly _ confused, and chansung cackles.

"oh my god," junho groans and sits up, "that's it, no present for you. _any of you_. get out, go make me chocolate, i'll get the socks."

sooyeon giggles all the way down the stairs, calling, "hurry up, junho!"

wooyoung arrives somewhere around noon, and junho just blinks at him at the door because wooyoung has, like, seven  _ huge _ boxes in his arms, all wrapped and shiny. junho's not sure how he's holding all of them up. it looks like magic. christmas magic.

"are you gonna let me in or do i just dump these on your face?"

junho moves to the side and wooyoung waltzes inside, calling for sooyeon, and soon enough there's a wail that's most likely only heard by dolphins or whales  _ at the other side of the world _ as sooyeon runs from the kitchen. she has flour on her hair but she looks cute, so junho only maims chansung with his eyes rather than plain killing him when he appears behind her.

"these are for you," wooyoung says, sitting on the carpet by the tree, and hands five boxes to her. "this one's from uncle taec, he's still visiting paris, and he said he loves you very, very, very much." he reaches out and pokes sooyeon in the tummy, making her giggle. "this one's from don't-call-me-uncle-i-feel-old minjun, and the rest are from nichkhun, harry and i."

"haroooooold," she pouts. "where is harry? i haven't seen harry since turkey day."

wooyoung nods, "he'll be here soon, don't worry. do you wanna open them?"

she nods, grabs for the first box and then nods at the ones wooyoung's picking up. "what about those?" she asks.

"these are for your dads," he says, and junho raises an eyebrow, because they agreed no presents these year, they all did. wooyoung stands up when she looks buried deep enough in wrapping paper and makes her way towards them, leans against the back of the couch and holds out each box in a hand. "merry christmas, you two. these are from my mother."

"seriously?" chansung asks, and takes his box, junho doing the same. he brings it to his nose, "is it food? is it stew?"

wooyoung makes a face. "what the f—ork, man, why would i wrap a stew? you been smoking the flour or what?"

"what's 'smoking'?" calls sooyeon from where she's attacking box number two.

"nothing," both chansung and junho say at the same time, and wooyoung chuckles. "go back to your presents," junho adds, making a face at wooyoung when sooyeon shrugs and fights some more wrapper.

"aw, these are cool," junho says when he's done opening his present, holding out the pair of wool gloves inside. they're blue and gray, white tiny snowflakes all over. chansung's are the same but in different shades of green "tell her we loved them."

"will do," wooyoung smiles, and pats them both on the shoulder as he makes his way to the kitchen.

"booze's on the top of the fridge," chansung calls after him.

"what's 'booze'?" sooyeon chirps as she tries to take a piece of tape from one of her pigtails.

"Nothing, princess," wooyoung says, blowing a kiss at her.

**seventeen**

"if you don't get in here right this instant, there'll be trouble with a capital t, young lady," junho says calmly.

it takes her a moment, but when she does get into the kitchen, sooyeon sits on a stool and widens her eyes. " _ dad _ ," she says.

chansung shrugs. "don't look at me, if i'd been the one who caught you making out with your  _ boyfriend _ in  _ our couch _ , we'd be in the police station right now, and you'd never see me again after being arrested for punching a minor in the face—"

" _ dad _ ," she wails, scandalized. "it's not that big of a deal—"

" _ excuse me _ —"

"chansung—"

"it was just kissing! it's not like we were having sex!"

" _ oh my god _ —"

" _ okay _ ," junho says loudly, waving his arms around, "time out. you," he points at chansung and then nods at the living room, "come with me. you," he fixes sooyeon with a look, "sit right there and do not move. got it?"

she looks away. "yes, dad," she mumbles.

junho can't even feel a bit proud of how it does look like she feels bad about it, he's just so—so confused right now. there are no parenting books for a situation like this. like, there's a book for everything—literally  _ everything _ , there's so much about pms junho didn't to know, like, ever—except the one that guides you through the realization your little girl's growing up faster than you can keep up with. seriously, junho read a book about how to make perfect pigtails. it's unbelievably unfair there's not a book that covers 'finding your daughter with a boy making out horizontally on the couch when she's supposed to be studying at a friends' house, in which case you've either been lied to or are just misinformed of the situation' from chapters one to twenty-five.

so, yes, junho is confused and hurt because he thought they'd make it very clear she could trust them, but mostly he's just flying blind here. there's no book in  _ good _ parenting, he knows that, but he thought he'd been doing good. had thought they both were.

chansung sits heavily on the couch, face on his hands. "shit," he huffs.

junho doesn't even fault him for it, because  _ shit _ indeed. "you need to calm down," he says softly.

" _ calm down _ ?" chansung parrots, head shooting up. he looks  _ out of it _ . "calm down? how am i supposed to calm down? are  _ you _ calm?"

"no," junho admits. "but one of us needs to be, okay. if we both get upset then she gets upset and then we're all upset in an upsetting environment. we're a family, we're gonna  _ talk _ this out. do you think you can calm down a bit?"

" _ no _ ," chansung huffs, and he looks so petulant it reminds junho of that time they threw sooyeon a  _ barbie _ themed birthday party and she refused to go out because she didn't want a party at all, she just wanted to visit the zoo.

"okay," junho sighs, runs a hand through his hair. "then stay here and i'll talk to her. deal?"

chansung doesn't look like he's happy with this deal but nods anyway, and junho makes it back to the kitchen. sooyeon is right where she left her, her lips bitten and her fingers twisting together on the countertop.

"is he mad?" she asks quietly.

junho nods, sits across from her and holds her gaze. she looks  _ hurt _ , sorry and remorseful, and it breaks junho more than anything. this is the kind of moment junho wants to use speed dial number three for. his mother would know what to do, she  _ does _ have a grown up daughter and looks like she lived to tell the tale, doesn't she? but somehow, this is just  _ theirs _ , something they need to deal with as a family. and judging by the stuff he reads online, catching sooyeon and her boyfriend making out isn't really an  _ issue _ . he's pretty lucky, actually.

luck works in mysterious ways.

he sighs, clasps his hands over his table, and  _ wings it _ .

"so," he says, "you have a boyfriend now. are you being safe?"

she squirms on the chair, looks away. she's a  _ teenager _ , junho is  _ fucked _ , but he loves her too much to not be honest with her. "it's not like that, dad."

junho's brain just freezes because she either meant 'it's not like that _ we're not being safe, dude, who's safe ever, please _ ', or 'it's not like that  _ we're not having sex and i don't plan to ever, or until i'm like forty _ .'

"we just started dating—actually, we've never gone out on a date. we just hang out in school a lot," she says around a sigh, probably taking pity of junho's face, because junho can feel his muscles doing weird things. she fidgets a bit with her sleeves. "uh, harry knows about it. knew from the start."

"how long?" he asks. as soon as junho is done with this part of his night (because there's still chansung to deal with) he's going to call nichkhun and wooyoung and demand to know why is their son covering up for sooyeon, he should be—at the very least—taking care of her and scaring all the boys away.

"oh, just. just a couple of months. but we're not—we haven't—"

"okay." he nods. "alright. so, no sex."

"no," she says, and holds his gaze through it. "we have this big final on friday and he asked if maybe we could study together and since you guys had that thing at wooyoung's—"

" _ uncle _ wooyoung."

"—right, uncle wooyoung—well, i said he could come over after school. we did study, i promise! i just—" she tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear and looks up at him, eyes big and shiny.

when they decided on surrogacy, junho told chansung he should be the one to do it, to "go jerk off in a cup and make our kid, go." junho's never known how to explain it, not even in interviews when people ask, it's something that just happened and felt  _ right _ . she's got his eyes, every single one of her lashes is the exact same replica of chansung's. and the bow of her lips is a copy and paste of chansung's. she has his smile.

"i really like him," she whispers.

junho hurts everywhere when she cries—ever since she first let out one of her wails in the hospital room she was born in—so when her eyes start getting wet, he freaks out, jumps away from his chair and rounds the table to cradle her against his chest like she's still his baby girl and not seventeen and only six months away from leaving for college.

"hey, hey, it's okay," he says, kissing the top of her head as she starts crying for real, and holy shit, he's going to cry now too and that's really not where junho was going with this! he hugs her tighter, and she clutches at his shirt. "sooyeon, it's okay, stop crying, please."

she sniffles and looks up at him, and junho's heart  _ squeezes _ itself in his chest. "i didn't mean to keep it from you, dad."

he sighs shakily and kisses her forehead, rubbing her back in small circles. "we know—we know you don't have to tell us  _ everything _ , okay? we know. we've known that since you brought that kitten from the park and hid it in your room for two weeks and took care of it yourself." she chuckles wetly, it's a start. "we know. but you have to understand something, too. you can trust us with anything. and i mean  _ anything _ , kid, if you ever kill someone your father and i are the first to hear about it, are we clear?"

she nods, wrapping both her arms around him tightly. "okay," she says.

"having a boyfriend," and junho counts this as a second win because his voice sounds as steady as it's going to get, "it's a big deal. i'm not gonna give you a lecture because i trust you enough to know what you did was not alright." she nods again. "so, from now on, considering he hasn’t fled the country after your dad threatened the cops on him—" she giggles a little "—if you want to invite him over, it's alright. as long as one of us here. are we clear on that, too?"

she nods again and bites her lip. "what if he doesn't wanna see me again after—" her lip wobbles and junho curses internally because if that kid doesn't want to see her again because of something as petty as this (junho is allowed to say it, he's the father here) then he's going to find that little shit and scare him for real. if chansung doesn't find him first, obviously. actually—no, junho sighs  _ fuck it _ because if chansung hadn't gone all hulk on the kid he wouldn't have fled like that, so junho's going to beat  _ the both of them _ within an inch of their lives if sooyeon cries again.

"hey," he says, as sternly as he can muster because he's feeling slightly angry right now, "if he doesn't, it's his loss. hey, look at me." she looks up from her fingers, eyes wet all over again. "his loss. okay?"

she nods, shakily again, and buries her face in his chest. "is dad gonna let me see him again?"

junho sighs, runs a hand through her hair. "you should talk to him." she makes a doubtful sound. "i'm serious. if he doesn't want to, i'm not gonna be the one to talk him out of it. if you really want to see what's-his-face again, you have to tell your dad why."

"his name's dongwoo," she mumbles.

junho purses his lips. "well, if he ever comes back, he can introduce himself."

she chuckles and pulls away, looking up at him with a soft smile. "okay, i'll talk to him. both of them. dad first, though." she breathes in and exhales shakily, and junho feels it deep in his bones, wants to keep holding her until she's no longer feeling scared or insecure or hurt. she takes his hand, squeezes. "thank you, dad."

junho squeezes back. "still grounded, though. go to your room while i talk to your dad."

sooyeon nods, stands on the tips of her toes and kisses junho's cheek. "night."

"night, sweetheart," he calls to her retreating back, and drops on the stool she just vacated, sighing deeply because he still has a chansung to deal with and that's going to be a tough cookie to chew on.

shaking himself, junho breathes in and out, counts to ten and makes it to the living room, praying to all gods chansung has cooled off enough for junho to at least say "give the kid a chance, damn it." except when junho makes it to the room his heart just  _ stops _ at the sight because it's a beautiful one and no matter how old she is and how much older she'll get, she's still their little baby and she looks tiny, so tiny sitting half on top of chansung and tucked under his arm, her arms around his neck while he rubs her back soothingly and she cries on his shoulder.

that's something that will never change if junho has a say in it, and trust him, he does.

he smiles from across the living, heartstrings tugging at the tears in chansung's eyes, and backs away quietly, lets them have this moment for as long as they want to.

 

"she says she's in love," chansung whispers in bed that night, and junho smiles in the darkness. "how can she  _ know _ ?"

"did you ask her that?" junho asks, just as quiet.

"she said she just  _ knew _ ," chansung murmurs, and junho finds his hand under the covers, runs the pad of his thumb over his knuckles, over the gold band in his ring finger. "then she asked me how i knew  _ you  _  were the one."

junho closes his eyes, lets his smile spread wider. "what did you tell her?"

"i said i just  _ knew _ ."

**twenty five**

"when i was seventeen, my parents caught me making out with a guy in our living room. it was  _ intense _ for a couple of hours there. i cried so much i had puffy eyes for two days. that night, though, i asked one of my dads how'd they known they were in love with each other, how they were so sure that was  _ it _ , you know?

"he looked at me for what felt like hours, i swear. i thought he was going to be all 'oh, it's this feeling in your stomach and your chest and it's like you can't breathe and all the love songs start making sense' because that's what all my friends said when i asked them."

sooyeon smiles, even through the tears that are threatening to spill. junho can feel his own eyes getting wetter and wetter. chansung said "fuck it" as soon as the ceremony started and hasn't tried to stop crying ever since. he's taking pauses, though, which is good.

"but he just looked at me, held my hand, and said, 'i just knew it'."

junho completely loses it, lets the tears fall down and gives zero fucks about everyone else in the room because they are not important, only sooyeon is, has ever been. on the next table, taecyeon has buried his face in his napkin. minjun is grinning like this is the best night of his life, and nichkhun and wooyoung are trying very manfully to blink back tears and hold hands under the table while harold rolls his eyes at them fondly.

sooyeon smiles at the both of them then, tears screwing up her make up, but it looks like she gives zero fucks too. "eight years later," she takes dongwoo's hand and they grin at each other, and junho is so,  _ so, so _ glad dongwoo decided to come back around and introduce himself because no one else would be better for her, "i stand here right next to this gentleman because i just knew it, too."

junho is grinning so wide his cheeks hurt. he finds chansung's hand and clings to it, lets chansung entwine their fingers together and squeeze. everyone raises their glasses then, cheers to the bride and the groom, and junho holds onto chansung through it, smiles at sooyeon from across the table and is up and out of his chair before she's even taken the first step towards them after hugging her fiancé—husband, now.

shit, that's going to take some time to get used to.

she hugs junho first and then there's chansung in the hug, too, and it tugs at junho in every direction, from the core of his being, because even if she moved out of the house five years ago, has been engaged for two, has traveled around the world and visited every place they ever held a concert in, she's still their little girl, the one that loves crusts in her sandwiches and milk in her tea and secretly watches 'practical magic' with junho when she's down with pms.

junho holds her, cries on her shoulder because parents cry on their children's weddings, lets her sob into her suit, and just  _ holds on _ , holds onto this moment, because everything they've gone through, everything they've lived, comes right to this moment: seeing her happy, the happiest they've ever seen her—the happiest all three of them have ever been. it's not a 'goodbye, dads, i'm married now, please back off', it's 'hey, hey, look, i grew up, and i found someone who loves me just as much as you both do—maybe more—who knows, and i'm happy, so happy, and i love you, will never stop loving you'.

"i love you so much," she whispers through the tears, and she's grinning, so wide and so bright.

"we're so happy for you, we love you so much," junho says against her temple, and chansung says, "so happy, honey, so happy," and she says, "i know, me too, i know."

**_the end._ **


End file.
